Journalists in parliament establish a new association for more specialized coverage

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Maputo, September 2011 - Mozambican journalists covering the activities of the Parliament in Mozambique have since the beginning of September, an association committed to promote “cluster specialization”. The Parliamentarian journalists’ Network of Mozambique (REJOPAM) was formally inaugurated on September 2nd with the election, in Maputo, of its main structures. REJOPAM is made up of 27 journalists, who normally work in the Mozambican Parliament.

Addressing the audience, when his election to the post of Executive Coordinator of REJOPAM was announced, José Sixpence, from the weekly newspaper Domingo, underscored that improving the specialization of journalists assigned to the parliament was one of the priorities of his three-year mandate.

"We want to ensure that there is an evolution to a stage, in which Network members, and not only, become effectively specialized in parliamentary coverage ", stated José Sixpence.

According to the statutes of the organization, REJOPAM intends to develop an interest in covering parliamentary activities among Mozambican journalists and promoting their training and specialization.

Speaking at the time, the President (Speaker) of Mozambique Parliament, Verónica Macamo, defended the need for values pertaining to impartiality, patriotism and investigative spirit on the part of the journalistic class.

“Our opinion is that the Network of Parliamentarian journalists becomes a platform for the promotion of a major involvement of the Parliament and the civil society through interaction between journalists, members of parliament, working committees and other organs or structures within the Assembly of the Republic ”, emphasised the Speaker of the Mozambican legislator.

Meanwhile, UNDP, one of the partners of this initiative, took the opportunity to reassert its commitment to supporting actions aimed at training Mozambican journalists involved in covering parliamentary activities, underlining that in this way it contributes to
strengthening democracy in the country.

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Talking at the occasion, the UNDP Director in Mozambique, Jocelyn Mason, stressed that, UNDP’s involvement is due to the conviction that, for society, it is always necessary to keep the citizen informed about facts occurring, above all at the level of institutions which vocation of is promote the common good, citizenship and democracy, as is the case of the institution which is rightly called – the “House of the People”.

Talking on the same occasion on behalf of the Westminster Foundation for Development (WFD), and the Association of European Parliamentarians (AWEPA), two other partners of the initiative, the British High-Commissioner in Mozambique, Shaun Cleary, praised the establishment and formal launching of REJOPAM, having highlighted that, “citizens have the right to know what is being done on their behalf and for their benefit, a right which is materialized by the excellent work undertaken by the Media family in Mozambique, allied with the openness that the Mozambican Parliament has been showing ”.

The United Nations in Mozambique has been encouraged and supported the REJOPAM initiative since the onset through UNDP, within the scope of its support aimed at making the Parliament more effective in the performance of its legislative, supervisory and
representative functions.

It is important to recall that UNDP’s support was aimed at strengthening the ties between the Parliament and the public through the Media, and most particularly, the press. As part of this cooperation, UNDP initially financed the supply of audio-visual
equipment to the Press Office at the Assembly of the Republic, the design of a Web Page, the publication of various parliamentary information in bulletins or brochures, including the prestigious “O Parlamentar ”, the training of Parliamentarian journalists and staff of the Press Office on issues of ethics and deontology, as well as, the establishment of REJOPAM itself.

It is believed that the formalisation of the Association will certainly contribute to the treatment and dissemination of information relating to the parliamentary activity, in addition to congregating media professionals committed with the treatment and dissemination of parliamentary issues.

It is also aimed at encouraging journalists so that they develop a major interest for the search for, selection and treatment of matters pertaining to the various activities carried out by the Assembly of the Republic, ensuring the coverage and dissemination of
parliamentarian activities and establishing a sound and solid platform for partnership and cooperation with the legislative body, as well as with national and international partners dealing with parliamentarian issues.

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